There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered, Honey

as expected, the cat was startled, and Dulla couldn’t quite shake the guilt at frightening this small, solitary creature. she could imagine it from her point of view, enjoying fresh kill while a large predator stumbled across her with the supposed desire to share. honestly, Dulla was impressed her companion hadn’t reacted with hostility - it’d have served her right, after all. and did she still have berry juice smeared across her bottom lip? how frightening! in the right light, it could appear to be blood! only the lack of an iron scent might’ve convinced the cat otherwise. as Dulla set down her berries, she wondered at the stranger, trying to discern the thoughts whirling through her mind. was she planning an escape? winding up to attack? Dulla wouldn’t blame her. in fact, if the cat sprung up and scratched her right across the name, she wouldn’t hold it against her. Dulla must look scary, for her size if nothing else. she’d never be bulky, but she wasn’t a slip of a thing, either. not anymore, anyway. the last year had completely stripped her of her girlishness and crowned a woman in its place, revealing defined muscles, wider hips and a thicker pelt. these lands had stripped the childishness from her in ways she hadn’t fathomed possible, and she wasn’t yet sure what to think of it. in the cat’s place, she’d likely be frightened, too.

but then, maybe she wasn’t giving the cat enough credit. after all, she’d been surviving out here seemingly on her own for a while. it was likely she was sturdier than she looked, and less prone to flight, too. “i can see why you might think that,” Dulla murmured, settling back on her haunches. she tried to keep a respectable distance between them, just in case the cat was feeling uneasy. “but i’d much rather share. i don’t make a habit of stealing dinner from my friends.” she winked, a playful thing, and allowed the words to hang in the air like a verbal olive branch. perhaps she was being premature, but Dulla liked to think she and this girl - Sucre - could be friends, even if only for today. she seemed friendly enough, and Dulla had never met a family before. maybe, once they’d eaten, she could pick her brain about her travels. Dulla loved a good story, and it’d been a while since she’d had cause to hear one. “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Sucre. i’m Medulla - er, well, Dulla, if you’d please.” an incline of her head, and then the tawny woman is gazing at their feast with a practical eye. down to business. “now, would you like me to shred the rabbit or mush the berries?” it often took a bit of collaboration to prepare a meal, which was just as well - there were two of them, after all.

word count: 483 (1,529/1500)